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APPARATUS FOR ELECTROLYTIC GALVANIZING OF SHEETS Filed March ll. 1940 17 Sheets-Sheet 17 35e/"IM Patented Sept. 1l, 1945 APPARATUS FOR ELCTROLYTIC GALVAN- IZING F SHEETS Clemson H. Ward, Baltimore, Md., assigner to Bethlehem Steel Pennsylvania Company, a corporation of Application March 1i, 1940, Serial No. 323,300 y 40 Claims. (Cl. 204-206) This invention relates to an apparatus for treating :dat rolled metal products, sheets, strip said at rolledproducts, disposed in a vertical plane are passed horizontally through cells or tanks containing the treating liquid. Important features of the invention are seals for permitting entrance and exit of the work from the tanks without undue leakage of liquid and guides for directing the ends of sheets or plate through said seais and through the tanks.

In particular the invention relates to apparatus for electroplating nat rolled products in' which said products are passed, without deviating from a vertical plane, through a succession of cells or enclosures in which cleaning, electroplating, rinsing, drying and other operations are performed upon same. In a specific embodiment of the invention zinc .is electrodeposited upon the work in a plating cell or' cells, the walls of which serve as insoluble anodes. In addition to said cells the apparatus comprises a plurality of roll boxes containing pairs of vertical contact and squeegee rolls which, when required to do so, may be used to support and advance the work through the apparatus.

One of the objects ofl the invention relates to the manner of constructing the cells and roll housing boxes so they can be assembled in alignment, taken apart for cleaning and repair, or a new unit installed when desired.

Another object of my invention relates to the panels which form gaskets and insulating means between the units.

Certain of the objects of my invention relate to the/construction of the journal bearings for the contact and squeegee rolls, the manner of forming the contact between the electrodes and terminals of the electrical conductors and the neck of the contact rolls and for cooling the same.

A further object of my invention relates to forming and arranging the porcelain guides in the plating cells in such afmanner as to allow a uni- .form rapid upward flow of electrolyte to stream on gas bubbles from the electrodes to maintain a constant supply of electrolyte at the electrode surfaces and'also to carry away the heat generated by the plating current.

Another object of my invention relates to the means whereby a sheet may be given a heavier coat of plating on one side of the sheet than on the other.

Another object of my invention relates to the manner of connecting successive plating cells and `contact rolls to separate sources of current of work alternately anodically and cathodically; or to one or more sources of current through current controlling means whereby the current density or plates, in one or more liquid baths in which may be varied in successive plating cells containing the same or different electrolytes.

Another object of my invention relates to the manner of connecting either side of one or a succession of plating cells to separately controlled sources of current whereby a more intense electrochemical eiect or a heavier coating of metal may be applied to one side of the work than to the other.

The construction of the squeegee and contact rolls and the mechanism for driving the same is another object of my invention.

Another object of my invention relates to the manner of adjusting the feed and receiving tables, to traverse the sheets up and down in small increments to avoid serious scoring of the rolls by the edges of the sheets.

Another object of my invention relates to the combination of vertical strip reels with plating equipment or the like including clutches which permit the rolls to rotate independently of the drive when the strip reels are advancing the work through the cells or tanks.

Another object of my invention relates to the method oi' treating the coating after the plating operation to produce a polished surface.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

Having thus given a general description of my invention, I will now in order to make the same more clear refer to the annexed seventeen sheets 'of drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like characters of reference indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view in side elevation of my improved galvanizing plant illustrating. the general arrangement ofl the complete apparatus for plating sheets; Y

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the driving mechas nism for rotating the contact and squeegee rolls; Figs. 3 and 4 show longitudinal transverse sections of the feeding in and discharge ends of the plant, respectively, taken on the lines 3-3 of 1;` Flilg. 5 is a side elevation of the feed in or iront end portion of the plant drawn on a larger scale; Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal section taken centrally through the front end portion shown in Fig. 5:

vopposite polarity for the purpose of treating the Fig. 7 is a vertical transverse section taken on r the line 1-1 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a vertical transverse section through one of the plating cells taken' on the line 8 8 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 9 is a vertical transverse section of the anodic treatment cell taken on the line 9--9 of Fis. 5;

Fig. 10 is a vertical longitudinal section taken centrallypthrough the discharge end portion of theplant and showing thewash and steam boxes;

feed table taken on the line il--ii of Fig. 1;

Fig. 12 is a modification showing the sheet adapted to advance through the plating cells nearer one anode than the other so that the sheet will receive a thicker plate of coating on one side than the other;

Fig. 13 is a transverse section of a squeegee roll box in which the sealing aps have hard rubber contact ends;

Fig. 14 is a transverse section through the lower portion of one of the contactroll housin boxes taken on the line lliiii of Fig. 15;

Fig. 15 is a vertical transverse section of the lower portion oi the contact roll housing box taken on the line i5-i5 of Fig. 11i and showing the arrangement oi` the bearings for the lower ends of the contact and squeegee rolls.

Fig. 16 is a top plan View of one of the journal bearings for the top ends ci a pair ci contact rolls and showing the terminal blocks and the terminals for the ends of the electric circuit attached thereto;

Fig. 17 is a vertical section of one of the journal bearings for the top ends of a pair of contact rolls taken on the line ii-ii of Fig. 16;

Fig. 18 is a horizontal section taken on the line v it-it of Fig. i7;

Fig. 19 is a vertical section taken on line i9-i9 of Fig. 16;

Fig. 20 is a transverse section of the driving mechanism for rotating the contact and squeegee rolls taken on the line 26-23 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 21 is an end elevation of one of the couplings for the lower ends of the contact and squeegee rolls;

Fig. 22 is a top plan view o one or bearings for the squeegee rolls;

Fig. 23 is a vertical section taken on they line 23-23 of Fig. 22;

Fig. 24 is a side elevation of one of the squeegee rolls with parts broken away to show more clearly the manner of construction;

Fig. 25 is a side elevation of one of the contact rolls with parts broken away to show the manner of constructing the end portions;

Fig. 26 is a front elevation oi' oneof the panels used between the cells and the roll housing boxes;

Fig. 27 is a transverse section through the panel the top t taken on the line 21-21 of Fig. v26;

Fig. 28 is a transverse section through cneof the squeegee roll units and the panels adjacent thereto;

Fig. 29 is a transverse section taken on the line 29--29 of Fig. 30 showing the semi-cylindrical shaped porcelain guides for the sheets and the manner of attaching them to the panels adjacent to the slots formed therein;

Fig. 30 `is a side elevation of a portion of one of the panels showing the semi-cylindrical shaped porcelain'guides attached thereto;

Fig. 31 is a detail transversesection -taken on the line al-3l of Fig. 32 showing the manner of attaching the frustro-conical shaped porcelain guides for the sheets inthe anodic treat. L ment and plating cells;

Fig. 32 is a front elevation showing one oiv the frustro-conical shaped porcelain portion of a cell attached thereto;

Fig. 33 is a front' elevation of one o! the T- shaped porcelain guides used between `some of the cells and theroll boxes;

Fig. 34 is a transverse section through one of thie T-shaped porcelain guides taken on the line 34-34 of Fig. 33:

in the plating 2,384.660 Figfli is a vertical transverse section o! the` Fig. 35 is a transverse section form of plating cell taken on the line 35-35 'of Fig. 36 showing a diierent manner of arranging the irustro-conical shaped porcelain guides cells and means for preventing edge treeing of the plate during the plating operation;

Fig. 36 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 36--38 of Fig. 35;

Fig. 37 is a detail showing the last plating cell and the parts adjacent thereto with the electric circuit for the last cell omitted;

Fig. 38 is a view similar to Fig. 37 in which the last cell has its polarity reversed to that for the plating cells;

Fig. 39 illustrates a means amount of current for cells;

Fig. 40 is a top plan view of a modiiied form of a work receiving table having means for vertical adjustment;

Fig. lil is a side elevation of the work taf'ole shown in Fig. e0; s

Fig. 42 is an elevation of the lower portion of the discharge end of the said table drawn on a larger scale;

Fig. 43 is a sectional elevation of the work receiving end of the table taken on the line @i3-i3 of Fig. 40;

Figs. 44 and 45 show longitudinal transverse sections of the feeding in, and discharge ends of a plant, respectively illustrating the manner of advancing strip through the plating cells or tanks;

Fig. 46 is a side elevation showing the power for varying the receiving driven reel and driving mechanism for winding up and advancing the strip through the cells;

Fig. 47 is a side elevation showing the delivery reel and roller leveiler for receiving a roll of strip from which the strip is fed through the cells;

Fig. 48 is a transverse section of the driving mechanism showing a friction clutch connection between one of the roll driving shafts and a spindle;

Fig. 49 is a vertical section through the friction clutch taken on the line I9-49 of Fig. 50; and

.Fig. 50 is a transverse section through the friction clutch taken on the line .5D-50 of Fig. 49.

Referring now to the various characters of reference on the drawings, the numeral i designates a longitudinal channel shaped base member having a lead covering 2 anda strip of insulation 3 thereon, upon which the cells and roll housing boxes are mounted and assembled together in longitudinal alignment. The channel shaped base member l is supported at each end and at intermediate points by means of wooden blocks 4, which are seated in the launder 5 extending under the apparatus for receiving the waste water guides and a E discharged therefrom. Adjacent to the launder 5 and on the same level are the launders 6 and 1 for receiving the electrolyte from the plating and anodic cells, respectively, from which each are returned to a sump (not shown) where it is cooled and the electrolyte recirculated.

The sheet 8 to be plated is disposed in a vertical position between pairs of side guide rods 9 with its lower edge engaging grooved rollers I0 of a feed table Il and advanced manually or in anyapproved manner into the electrolytic galvanizing plant from the right hand end of the apparatus as indicated in Figure 1, where it ilrst passes between a pair of contact rolls in the roll of a modiiied I each side of the plating` is then advanced and passes between a pair ofl sealing rolls in the roll housing box |4 and then a stub shaft 53 of relatively hard Wear and coradvanced between another pair of squeegee rolls in roll box I5, which guides theadvancing end of the sheet into the first of a series of plating cells, in which eightl are shown for illustration numbered I6, I1, I8, i9, 20, 2|, 22 and 23, but. a greater or lessr number of plating. cells may be used if desired. As shown in Figure 1 each plating cell has at its left hand end a contact roll housing box indicated asV 24, 25, 26, 21, 28, 29,

. 33 and 3|, respectively, in each of which is mounted a pair of contact rolls between which the sheet being plated is passed. After passing through the plating cells and between the pairs of contact rolls in sequence it is then fed into roll housing box 32, between a pair of squeegee rolls which retain the electrolyte in the plating cells and advances between another pair of squeegee rolls in roll housing box 33, thence into a wash bnx 34 having perforated pipes 35 for spraying water on each side of the sheetl then into a drying box 36, having perforated steam pipes 31 for heating the sheet and finally the sheet passes ,betweenanother pair of squeegee rolls in rollhousing box 38 for wiping the surface of the sheet from which point it is ejected onto a receiving table 39 which is constructed in a similar manner as the feed table, having the vertical pairs of guide rods 9, and rollers i8.

The ends of the units are insulated from each other by means of panels 40 forming gaskets between the same, each comprising a central reinforcing plate 4I of steel to prevent warping which is covered with insulating material such as rubber or the like. These panels 48 have a vertical central slot formed therein as at 42 for the sheet to pass through. These panels also have attached thereto adjacent to the slots porcelain guides for guiding the sheet into or out of the different units and the input and output sealing ilaps which will be described more fully hereinafter.

It will be noted byreferring to the drawings that a number of the units and parts forming my apparatus are duplicated and a description of the construction of one of each will apply vto all, and it will be understood that all of the roll housing boxes and parts for use'incontact with the electrolyte are covered or lined with lead, rubber or other material suitable to withstand the attack of the electrolyte in use. For the most common electrolytes in which sulphuric acid and its salts are the active agents, lead is in general` vthe most satisfactory material.

I will hereinafter refer to lead as the lining material although this is not by way of limitation.

The contact roll units indicated at I2, 24, 25, 26, 21, 28, 29, 30 and 3| are all constructed in a similar manner as illustrated more clearly in Figures 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 25 each comprising a pair of lead lined vertically disposed side frame members 43 of channel section with' ing flange 46, which is insulated from, but attached by means of bolts 41 to the lower outwardly extending flange of the top bearing sup-v port 48 for the top bearing heads 49, for the contact rolls 50. These contact rolls 50 are arranged in pairs, each having a core of soft steel 5| covered on its cylindrical surface and ends with a layer of lead alloy and having at its4 lower end rosion resistant metal, while the neck 54 at the upper end has a contact sleeve 55 of ,brass or other suitable material for engaging the braided wire contact bands 56. The upper end of each roll neck 54 is journaled in a roller bearing 51 and is further provided with a threaded end portion 58 for receiving a thrust washer 59 held in position by means of a nut 68 and lock nut 6I.

The top bearing support 48 has upwardly extending side walls 62, each having at one edge outwardly and inwardly extending flanges 63 and 64, respectively, to which are attached a pair of terminal blocks 65 by means of bolts 66. Terminals B1 from one side of a source of current are attached to each terminal block I65 by means of bolts 68. The flexible contact bands 56 are arranged in pairs and have their ends attached to the inner ends of the two terminal blocks 65 and secured thereto by means of clamping bars 69 and bolts 10, and a tie bar 1I connects the central portions of the clamping bars 69 together. The intermediate portions of these two contact bands engage the contact sleeves 55 on the neck portions 54 of the contact rolls and in order to their flanges extending outwardly and connectedv together at their lower ends by means of a base casting 44 and bolts 45 and provided at their upper ends with anhorizontally outwardly extend- 56 and-sleeves 55 the central portion of these contact bands extends through the elongated eye of an eye bolt 12. The shank of this eye bolt ex tends through the tie b'ar 1| and is threaded to receive a. nut 13 which can be adjusted to take up any slack which may occur in the contact bands. As these contacts become heated during the rotation of the contact rolls in order to keep them cool they are sprayed with water from a spray pipe 14, and to prevent this water from escaping into the cells a wall 15-formed integral with the top bearing support 48 extends upwardly adjacent to the spray pipe 14, while the openings 16 in the bottom wall of the top bearing support'for the passage of the contact roll necks each have an annular flange 11 extending upwardly around the same. Overlapping said iiange is a cover or skirt 18 attached to the roll neck. The top bearing support is also provided with a drip pan 19 from which drain pipes 8|) convey the waste water to thelaurlder 5.-

The contact roll bearing head 49 is insulated from the top bearing support 48 and is perforated at intermediate points as at 8| for the passage of the upper ends of the contact roll necks 54, and is provided on its upper surface with a slide Way 82 for receiving adjustable bearing blocks 83 in which the roller bearings 51 on the upper ends of the roll necks54 are seated. A flange 84 extends vertically upward from the opposite edges of the slide way'82 having set bolts 85 extending therethrough for engaging the sides of the bearing blocks 83 for laterally adjusting the same. One end of the flanges 84 are connected together by means of a pressure bar 86 which is bolted thereto and has set bolts-81 extending therethrough for engaging the endof one of the bearing Ablocks 83 to holdit in an adjusted position. The other coacting bearing block 83 is adapted to be held in position by fluid pressure and for this purpose a ange 88 extends upwardly from the base of the 

